“Sonic Mania Plus” is a blast from the past that gives Sonic the Hedgehog fans what they always wanted from a Sonic game. The game was created by the team Whitehead, who are huge fans of the series.

The game starts with the conclusion of War to Take Back the Planet. Sonic is transported back to Angel Island by the Phantom Ruby. He traverses the land and finds Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel trapped within Schrodinger’s Capsule. After freeing them, the Heavy Magician, one of the protagonists, reveals herself to have been disguised as one of the prisoners, the one that the player did not select to team up with.

She steals the Phantom Ruby, leaving Sonic and his new teammate to chase her down. The Heavy Magician gives the Phantom Ruby to the wrecked remains of the Phantom King, among the Phantom Heavies. The Phantom King then uses the Ruby to restore the Hard Boiled Heavies, leaving Sonic and his teammate to begin hunting them down in Green Hill Zone.

“Sonic Mania Plus” is a re-release of “Sonic Mania” though it has some differences from the first game. The newer version adds two new characters to the roster. Mighty the Armadillo, from Knuckles Chaotix 1995, and Ray the Flying Squirrel, from the game Sega Sonic the Hedgehog in 1993.

The new release adds Angel Island from Sonic and Knuckles as well as new features such as encore mode which alters the zones and has new gameplay rules. The game also adds a four-player mode.

The game also changes new cinematics to transition between levels. The game also adds a cheat function, and now has a physical release, the opposite of the original which was just a download.

The game’s graphics are based on the original 16-bit era of the Genesis days but are in high definition. The levels of the game come from past Sonic games such as Sonic 1, 2, 3, knuckles, and CD. Each zone has two acts, the first being a remake of the level from a previous game, the second act is almost entirely new. There are two zones in the game itself that were never in any past sonic game.

One of the greatest features of the game is each character is unique with their own features, which, makes replaying more fun. Sonic is the fastest, Tails can fly and swim, Knuckles can glide and climb walls, Mighty has a hammer drop feature, and Mighty can glide as well, but can also gain altitude.

Another fun feature is the return of the chaos emeralds. If a player finds a giant gold ring in any act they are transported to a secret level. The level is based on Sonic Cd which the player must chase a UFO while collecting rings, and blue spheres to catch up to the UFO holding a chaos emerald. If the player collects all 7 then they can turn their character into a super form. The character is invincible and faster. The catch, however, is that there is a time limit on the super form, varying on how many rings the player has and counts down. The player can still collect rings adding to the timer to keep the form longer.

The game is fun for any and all Sonic fans that want to relive the past or want a Sonic game that is well deserved. For anyone who has ever played Sonic this game is a must!